Comparative analysis of distinct phenotyping methods for assessing wheat resistance and pathogen virulence among Fusarium species causing head blight disease
Abstract Developing disease-resistant crops is a critical strategy for reducing chemical treatments and mitigating plant disease outbreaks, particularly amid global environmental changes. Fusarium head blight (FHB), caused by a complex of Fusarium species, is one of the most devastating cereal disea...
Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
BMC
2025-06-01
|
| Series: | Plant Methods |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1186/s13007-025-01402-8 |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1849329531184218112 |
|---|---|
| author | Vahideh Rafiei Liza DeGenring Erin M. Schwister James Mitch Elmore Mukesh Dubey Magnus Karlsson Milton T. Drott |
| author_facet | Vahideh Rafiei Liza DeGenring Erin M. Schwister James Mitch Elmore Mukesh Dubey Magnus Karlsson Milton T. Drott |
| author_sort | Vahideh Rafiei |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Developing disease-resistant crops is a critical strategy for reducing chemical treatments and mitigating plant disease outbreaks, particularly amid global environmental changes. Fusarium head blight (FHB), caused by a complex of Fusarium species, is one of the most devastating cereal diseases, leading to significant economic losses and contamination of grain with harmful mycotoxins that threaten global cereal production and human health. The high variability in virulence within the complex of Fusarium spp and the lack of efficient high-throughput screening methods have impeded the development of resistant cultivars and made large-scale virulence testing labor-intensive and time-consuming. This study evaluates the efficacy of detached leaf, coleoptile, and seedling assays as high-throughput alternatives to the standard head infection assay for assessing the virulence of Fusarium species and differentiating wheat genotypes by resistance or susceptibility. Two near-isogenic wheat lines, one carrying FHB resistance loci and the other without, were used to assess the virulence of four Fusarium species. The seedling and coleoptile assays showed strong concordance with the traditional head infection assay, accurately reflecting differences in disease severity across Fusarium species and between wheat lines. Conversely, the detached leaf assay provided some differentiation among species but was inconsistent in identifying differences between plant genotypes. Across all assays, F. graminearum consistently exhibited the highest virulence, causing severe disease in leaves, stems, seedlings, and heads, while F. poae was the least virulent. Interestingly, F. culmorum and F. avenaceum displayed tissue-specific variability. These findings establish the coleoptile and seedling assays as rapid, high-throughput alternatives for breeding programs, accelerating the identification of FHB-resistant genotypes and reducing the reliance on the labor-intensive head assay. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-5c459ad6985c4326a173f87b9d8776b7 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1746-4811 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-06-01 |
| publisher | BMC |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Plant Methods |
| spelling | doaj-art-5c459ad6985c4326a173f87b9d8776b72025-08-20T03:47:14ZengBMCPlant Methods1746-48112025-06-0121111310.1186/s13007-025-01402-8Comparative analysis of distinct phenotyping methods for assessing wheat resistance and pathogen virulence among Fusarium species causing head blight diseaseVahideh Rafiei0Liza DeGenring1Erin M. Schwister2James Mitch Elmore3Mukesh Dubey4Magnus Karlsson5Milton T. Drott6Department of Forest Mycology and Plant Pathology, Uppsala Biocenter, Swedish University of Agricultural SciencesUSDA-ARS Cereal Disease LaboratoryUSDA-ARS Cereal Disease LaboratoryUSDA-ARS Cereal Disease LaboratoryDepartment of Forest Mycology and Plant Pathology, Uppsala Biocenter, Swedish University of Agricultural SciencesDepartment of Forest Mycology and Plant Pathology, Uppsala Biocenter, Swedish University of Agricultural SciencesUSDA-ARS Cereal Disease LaboratoryAbstract Developing disease-resistant crops is a critical strategy for reducing chemical treatments and mitigating plant disease outbreaks, particularly amid global environmental changes. Fusarium head blight (FHB), caused by a complex of Fusarium species, is one of the most devastating cereal diseases, leading to significant economic losses and contamination of grain with harmful mycotoxins that threaten global cereal production and human health. The high variability in virulence within the complex of Fusarium spp and the lack of efficient high-throughput screening methods have impeded the development of resistant cultivars and made large-scale virulence testing labor-intensive and time-consuming. This study evaluates the efficacy of detached leaf, coleoptile, and seedling assays as high-throughput alternatives to the standard head infection assay for assessing the virulence of Fusarium species and differentiating wheat genotypes by resistance or susceptibility. Two near-isogenic wheat lines, one carrying FHB resistance loci and the other without, were used to assess the virulence of four Fusarium species. The seedling and coleoptile assays showed strong concordance with the traditional head infection assay, accurately reflecting differences in disease severity across Fusarium species and between wheat lines. Conversely, the detached leaf assay provided some differentiation among species but was inconsistent in identifying differences between plant genotypes. Across all assays, F. graminearum consistently exhibited the highest virulence, causing severe disease in leaves, stems, seedlings, and heads, while F. poae was the least virulent. Interestingly, F. culmorum and F. avenaceum displayed tissue-specific variability. These findings establish the coleoptile and seedling assays as rapid, high-throughput alternatives for breeding programs, accelerating the identification of FHB-resistant genotypes and reducing the reliance on the labor-intensive head assay.https://doi.org/10.1186/s13007-025-01402-8High-throughput phenotypingFusarium head blightHead infectionCereals |
| spellingShingle | Vahideh Rafiei Liza DeGenring Erin M. Schwister James Mitch Elmore Mukesh Dubey Magnus Karlsson Milton T. Drott Comparative analysis of distinct phenotyping methods for assessing wheat resistance and pathogen virulence among Fusarium species causing head blight disease Plant Methods High-throughput phenotyping Fusarium head blight Head infection Cereals |
| title | Comparative analysis of distinct phenotyping methods for assessing wheat resistance and pathogen virulence among Fusarium species causing head blight disease |
| title_full | Comparative analysis of distinct phenotyping methods for assessing wheat resistance and pathogen virulence among Fusarium species causing head blight disease |
| title_fullStr | Comparative analysis of distinct phenotyping methods for assessing wheat resistance and pathogen virulence among Fusarium species causing head blight disease |
| title_full_unstemmed | Comparative analysis of distinct phenotyping methods for assessing wheat resistance and pathogen virulence among Fusarium species causing head blight disease |
| title_short | Comparative analysis of distinct phenotyping methods for assessing wheat resistance and pathogen virulence among Fusarium species causing head blight disease |
| title_sort | comparative analysis of distinct phenotyping methods for assessing wheat resistance and pathogen virulence among fusarium species causing head blight disease |
| topic | High-throughput phenotyping Fusarium head blight Head infection Cereals |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1186/s13007-025-01402-8 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT vahidehrafiei comparativeanalysisofdistinctphenotypingmethodsforassessingwheatresistanceandpathogenvirulenceamongfusariumspeciescausingheadblightdisease AT lizadegenring comparativeanalysisofdistinctphenotypingmethodsforassessingwheatresistanceandpathogenvirulenceamongfusariumspeciescausingheadblightdisease AT erinmschwister comparativeanalysisofdistinctphenotypingmethodsforassessingwheatresistanceandpathogenvirulenceamongfusariumspeciescausingheadblightdisease AT jamesmitchelmore comparativeanalysisofdistinctphenotypingmethodsforassessingwheatresistanceandpathogenvirulenceamongfusariumspeciescausingheadblightdisease AT mukeshdubey comparativeanalysisofdistinctphenotypingmethodsforassessingwheatresistanceandpathogenvirulenceamongfusariumspeciescausingheadblightdisease AT magnuskarlsson comparativeanalysisofdistinctphenotypingmethodsforassessingwheatresistanceandpathogenvirulenceamongfusariumspeciescausingheadblightdisease AT miltontdrott comparativeanalysisofdistinctphenotypingmethodsforassessingwheatresistanceandpathogenvirulenceamongfusariumspeciescausingheadblightdisease |